hereof



No. 623,903. Patnted A'p'r. 25,1399.

A. vH. Hannon.

WASHING MACHINE. (Applieation led. Feb. 21, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Tn: amps Ptrtns 9o.. PMoTaLm-lo. wAsHlNnron. n. c.

Unirse STATES PATENT Ormes.

AL H. HERRON, OF S'I. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE ANTHONY WAYNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Patent No. 623,903, dated April 25, 1899. Application filed February 21, 1898. Serial No. 671,116. (No model.)

To a/L tf1/1,0711, t may concern:

Be it known that I, AL H. HERRON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in washing-machines; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of my apparatus, showing the top lid closed. Fig. 2 is a vertical middle section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing, however, the operating parts in elevation. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the reversing-gear for one position of the clutch. Fig. 4. is a similar view for the opposite position of the clutch. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 7 of Fig. 1.

My' present invention has relation to that class of washing-machines in which a rotary agitator is employed to rub the clothes against Y the corrugated inner walls of the tub, the object of the present device being to produce a simple and effective reversing mechanism by which the rotation of such agitator is reversed,

and, further, to construct a dasher which will be proof against the corrosive action of the water and the detergent compounds dissolved therein.

In detail the invention may be described as follows:

Referring -to the drawings, 1 represents a tub or receptacle provided with a lid 2,hinged to close over the opening cut in the head of the tub. The lid is pivoted to a board 3, which is nailed to a strip 4, forming one of the sections of the head, the lid closing down upon a strip 5, forming the opposite section of the head, and against the edge of a board 6, carried by said section. The strips 7 7 form the two remaining sections of the head, along the inner edges of' which the lid also closes. Secured to the lid 2 is a shaft-supporting frame, comprising the inner standards 8 8 and a terminal standard 9, carried at the free end of the arm 10, forming a part of said frame. The operating-shaft 11 is mounted in the standards, the outer projecting end of the said shaft being provided with a hand-wheel 12, (or crank-arm.) Loosely mounted on the shaft 11, adjacent to and between the standards 8 S, are pinions 13, simultaneously meshing with the teeth of the rotating bevel driving gear-wheel 14, mounted intermediate of the standards S 8, the vertical central stem 15 of the said wheel passing loosely through a hollow depending boss 16, forming a part of or cast with the frame, the wheel 14 being raised slightly above the upper surface of the frame, resting as it does on a hub or collar 17, directly embracing the stem 15 referred to. Secured to the shaft-supporting frame, directly below the gear-wheel14, is a U-shaped arm 18, passing freely about the gear-Wheel, the upper end of said arm having pivoted thereto the fixed end of acurved toggle-lever 19, the medial portion of said lever carrying a clutch-shifting lug 20, which operates within and is adapted to engage the walls 21 of a central groove 22, formed at the medial portion of the double clutch, by the terminal male portions 23 of which the female portions 24 of the opposite pinions are brought alternately into engagement. The free end of the lever 19 projects a suitable distance beyond the drive-shaft 11 and is pivotally secured to the inner end of the movable toggle-lever 25, whose free orouterend passes loosely through the opening of the free end of a supportingarm 26, Whose fixed end is secured to the frame beneath the gear-Wheel 14. diametrically opposite the fixed end of the U-shaped arm 18. Embracing the toggle-lever 25 is a resilient coiled spring 27, having one end bearing against the arm 26 and the opposite end against a collar 2S, located adjacent to the pivotal end of the said lever. The tendency of the spring 27 is to throw the toggle-levers to one side or the other of the dead-center of the toggle-joint thus formed-that is, to one side or the other of the diametric line connecting the free ends of the arms 1S and 26, respectively. The male clutches, which are cast or formed integrally or of one piece, are free to slide along the drive-shaft 11 to an extent IOO sufficient to engage either one pinion or the other, this extent being determined by the length of the slot 20, formed in the Walls of the clutch, the clutch rotating constantly with the shaft, being driven as it is by the pin 30, carried by the shaft and projecting through the slot, the wall of which is engaged during the shafts rotation. Depending from the toggle-'lever 1S) at its juncture with the movable lever 25 is a lug 3l, adapted to be struck by an upwardly-projecting lug 32, carried by the driving gear-wheel 14.-.

The parts so far described constitute the reversing and driving mechanism of my device, and its operation is as follows:

Referring to Fig. 3, let us assume that the clutch is in engagement with the left-hand pinion, imparting rotation thereto in the direction shown by the arrow. Under these circumstances the driving gear-wheel Il will have imparted thereto motion in the direction as indicated by the arrow, and the righthand pinion (which is loose on the shaft) as also indicated by the arrow. As the gearwheel 14 rotates the actuating-lug 32 thereof encounters the lng 3l, carried by the togglelever 10, forcing the toggle-levers past their dead-center, the spring 27 yielding and being compressed under the circumstances and the movable toggle-lever 25 being forced outwardly sufficiently to permit the toggle-joint to pass its dead-cen ter, after which the spring by reason of its resilient action will force the clutch into engagement with the right-hand pinion, as seen in Fig. 4, the parts movingin the directions as indicated by the arrows in said figure. The gear-wheel le now revolves in the opposite direction,so that the actuatinglug 32 will trip the toggle links or levers in the reverse direction when it encounters the depending lug 3l, thus again bringing the parts into the position shown in Fig. 3, so that as rotation is imparted from the hand-wheel to the drive-shaft the gear-wheel will be oscillated back and forth aboutits vertical stem l5. The stem passes through the lid, projecting into the tub a suitable distance beyond the boss 16, the projecting end being adapted to be insei-ted into the socket or hollow of a spidersupporting rod or post 33, the latter being passed over the stem snugly against the boss and the parts secured by a pin 3i. The outer walls of the rod 33 are provided with longitudinal ribs 35, adapted to engage corresponding sockets 37, formed about the inner surface of the central ring or collar 38 of an agitator or rubber 30, the latter being iirst slipped over the ribs, along which it is free to move up and down, and being supported when in its lowest position on the collar 40, formed at the lower end of the rod. The spider thus slides freely up and down, according to the quantity of and resistance offered by the clothes introduced into the tub. Formed or cast integrally with the spider are the depending ingers 4l, the latter having been made heretofore, so far as I am aware, of wood or other destructible material; but in my present invention they are made of the same metal from which the spider is cast and preferably cast in one piece with the same. In the present machine the rod 33 and its agitator 39 are covered with enamel, this being a vitreous coating of any suitable color, having a property of resisting the corrosive action of the wash water and the detergents dissolved therein and being superior to the galvanized spiders or dashers more generally in use and which, as a rule, are provided with wooden gripping-pins.

From the description of the operation of the reversing mechanism it is apparent that as a rotary motion or action is imparted to the gear-wheel 14 a like action will be imparted to the agitator carried by it. The inner surface and bottom. of the tub may be corrugated on the principle of a washboard, the agitator rubbing the clothes against such corrugated surfaces. It is apparent, of course, that minor changes might be made in the present device without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is of course understood that as the toggle-levers assume first one position and then the other the clutch is shifted accordingly in one or the other direction, the shifting being accomplished by the lug 2O engaging the adjacent walls of the groove within which it operates. IVhen the lid is once closed, it is kept in place by the catches 50, pivoted to the board 6.

The object of casting the pins integrally with the agitator is to prevent falling out of the same, an objection inherent in wooden pins, which drop out by reason of the shrinkage of the wood when the machine is not in use.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a washing-machine, a suitable tub, a shaft-supporting frame carried by the same, a drive-shaft on said frame, a gear-wheel carried by the frame and having a central stem extending partially into the tub, an agitator secured to said stem, pinions loosely mounted on the shaft and meshing with the gear-wheel, a toggle-lever having one end pivotally secured in proximity to the shaft, a second toggle-lever pivoted to the irst lever and having its free end movable in a suitable bearing, a spring for throwing the toggle-levers to one side or the other of the line connecting their farther ends, a lug secured to one of the toggle-levers and adapted to be actuated by a lug carried by the gear-wheel, a rotating clutch slidingly mounted on the shaft between the pinions, and connecting mechanism between said toggle-levers and clutch for shifting the latter according to the position assumed by the toggle-levers, whereby, during the rotation of the shaft either one or the other pinion will be brought into engagement with the gear-wheel and a reciprocating rotary movement be imparted to the gear-Wheel and dasher carried thereby, substantially as set forth.

IOO

IIO

2. Ina Washing-machine, a suitable frame, a gear-Wheel mounted. in the same, a driveshaft, pinions loosely mounted on the shaft and meshing with the teeth of the gear-Wheel at vpoints diametrically opposite one another, a female-clutch portion formed on each pinion, a male clntch slidingly mounted on the shaft and adapted to rotate with the same, an arm carried by the frame, and having pivotally secu red thereto one end of a toggle-lever, a lug carried by said lever, a groove formed in the peripheral Walls of the male cl uteh with the walls of which the aforesaid lug is adapted to engage, a second arm carried by the frame, and serving as a bearing for the movable end of a second toggle-lever pivoted at its opposite end to the first lever, a coiled spring ernbracing said second lever and having one end bearing against the arm and the opposite end against a collar forming a part of the lever embraced by the spring, a lug depending from the first lever adjacent to its pivotal juncture with the second lever, a lug projecting from the gear-Wheel, and an agitator depending from the gear-Wheel Within the tub, the several parts being adapted to be mounted on the lid of the tub, and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a Washing-machine, a suitable tub, an agitator mounted Within the same,'a driveshaft carried by the tub, pinions loosely mounted on the shaft, a driving gear-Wheel, means for connectingsaid gear-Wheel and agitator, clutches slidingly mounted on the shaft, and spring-actuated toggle-levers controlled by the rotation of the gear-Wheel, for shifting the clutches from one pinion to the other, and thus rotating the gear-Wheel back and forth during the rotation of the drive-shaft, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

AL H. HERRON.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, EDWARD W. FARRELL. 

